Wednesday, October 6, 2010

AGE DISCRIMINATION

I know there's a rainbow out there somewhere. I took this photo in front of our house last week when Blogger would not let me publish pics.


I am finding a curious thing on applications on line.
You know they all have disclaimers about being fair employers who do not discriminate against this or that politically correct issue.
You have to read these silly claims and then click a box that says you understand.


WHATEVER!

I have also found that they have ways of asking questions that belie their statements on age.
For example, several have boxes you can check with age categories.
Some just want to be sure you are over 18 or 21 for youth labor laws and selling items that require a minimum age limit like alcohol and cigarettes.
Understandable.
Yet there is another group that give you age groups such as
18-25, etc.
I have run across several now that only go as high as 40 years of age.
There is no box to check that is over 40!


This fascinates me. One would not even accept my application unless I checked that I was born after 1968!
Yet they all have the same anti-age disclaimer.


I had a good giggle too when the clerk at the liquor store asked me hesitantly if I could lift a box that weighed over 20 pounds.


I said "No problem. I'm a mom... I can carry two toddlers and four sacks of groceries and still use one hand to unlock the car door."


You gotta keep your sense of humor if you want to keep your dignity.
:-D


On the humor front... the man and friend T are still working on the huge cabinets they are building in our shop.
I enjoy sitting out there with my surround sound, watching them work.
Last night they were spraying lacquer over the stain... just outside the big shop doors.
I'm sipping my drink and things are kind of funny... I mean we are laughing a lot.
We generally do that anyway, but things were extra funny.
It wasn't the beer. It wasn't the jokes.
I think maybe now I understand why people "huff".
At one point, T says
"I think I lost three brain cells... and I was saving those."


It's hump day!
Enjoy!




16 comments:

  1. A gorgeous rainbow.
    Huff 'n Puff and there goes your life. ;-)

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  2. Ah, yes, some marvelous experiences can be had via inhalation.

    I mean breathing, OK? You gotta do it to stay alive, y'know. What did you think I was talking about? Sheesh.

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  3. Pamela-- Funny thing is that the day I wanted to post this one and could not, I found a wonderful pic of a rainbow at NoRegret's blog.

    Ha. True it is, but I can sure see how someone might find that fun enough to do themselves damage.

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  4. Suldog-- Hey, I know EXACTLY what you are talking about! ;-D

    Enjoy your vaction... and your wife.
    (Which I know that you do.)

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  5. Heh, heh. I repainted my kitchen this summer, trading the old latex for a nice, toxic, but better wearing oil base. Even with all the windows open I caught a nasty toluene buzz. Bleah.

    I felt like I could taste the paint for hours after each day's work.

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  6. So what kind of lacquer was it? How much did they use?

    Just kidding.

    Being a hirer, I think the current anti-discrimination tools are pretty ridiculous, especially for new hires. But it seems businesses just have to show that they're tolerant...rather than actually being tolerant.

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  7. the ageism is irritating isn't it?

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  8. It's weird too, because a huge number of our population is over 40 now. Personally, I can lift more than most 20 year olds, so I would definitely be insulted by that question.

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  9. Cricket-- Ha. Last night I was in the house after the guys had been spraying again and I thought "Wow, the smell even carries in here." Then I realized it was me... I was wearing the odor on my clothes, skin and hair.

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  10. 3GirlKnicht-- Hee hee.

    I'm sure its always been that way. They just didn't do it so obviously.
    Oddly enough, this is part of why I like face to face rather than filling out applications that can take up to an hour. If they don't like my age, looks, etc. then we can be done with it then and there and I don't waste my time.

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  11. lime-- It wasn't until I was old enough to be affected by it. Ha.

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  12. Churlita-- Oh she was sweet enough, just too young to understand. But I agree, so many people over 40 have a great deal to offer employers. I guess I don't want to work for someone like that anyway.

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  13. It is always something...now I am feeling more age-y type stuff, but when I was a young mother I got lots of backhanded questions about how I'd manage my job and my children. Guh.

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  14. laura b.-- I hope that people impose their feelings on others like the working mom issues and don't get that its not kind. My ex mother in law was like that... women belonged at home being "good" mothers. Guh is right!

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  15. Beautiful rainbow. They always give me hope. And you are definitely right about age discrimination.

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  16. secret agent woman-- I agree about both.

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